Risk factors predicting the postoperative outcome in 134 patients with active endocarditis.

Background: Surgery remains the cornerstone in management of endocarditis.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort we evaluated the operative outcome of patients with infective endocarditis. The SPSS program was used to analyze the data.

Results: A total of 134 predominantly male patients (60%) with a mean age of 55 ± 12.4 years were examined. The procedures included single valve (n = 88; 66%), double/multiple valves (n = 29; 22%), and valve-coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) (n = 16; 12%). Perioperative mortality was 11.9% (n = 16). In the multivariate analysis, dialysis (odds ratio [OR] = 7.88; 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.78-34.77]; P = .006), sepsis (OR = 19.5; 95% CI [2.76-137.9]; P = .002), and perfusion time (95% CI [1.00-1.02]; P = .003) were independent predictors of perioperative mortality. The overall long-term survival at 28 months was 69.2% ± 4%. Dialysis (P = .0001) was a predictor of mortality, whereas elevated creatinine in nondialysis patients (P = .0002) was not. In the multivariate analysis, dialysis (hazard ratio [HR] 4.06%; 95% CI [0.936-8.526]; P = .0002), CABG (HR 2.32; 95% CI [1.086-4.978]; P = .0299), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR 2.20; 95% CI [1.027-4.739]; P = .0426), and double/multiple valve procedure (HR 3.0; 95% CI [1.467-6.206]; P = .0027) were risk factors for long-term mortality.

Conclusion: Renal failure but not renal insufficiency is a risk factor for short and long-term mortality.